US Senate: ‘Whitest Deliberative Body’

A new study illustrates the low diversity on Capitol Hill.

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A new report out from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies highlights how little diversity there is in the U.S. Senate.

Among the findings:

  • “People of color make up over 36 percent of the U.S. population, but only 7.1 percent of top Senate staffers.”
  • “Latinos make up over 16 percent of the U.S. population, but only 2.1 percent of top Senate staffers.”
  • “African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but only 0.9 percent of top Senate staffers.”
  • “Senate offices representing states with large Hispanic and African-American populations hire few senior staffers of color.”
US Capitol building, senate side view. washington DC. 26 feb 2015. photograph Cory Lum/Civil Beat
The Senate side of the U.S. Capitol. Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Remarking on the study, Keli Goff of The Daily Beast penned this item, The US Senate: The World’s Whitest Deliberative Body.

“This is particularly troubling given how lacking in diversity the Senate already is,” she wrote. “There are currently two African Americans serving in the U.S. Senate (Cory Booker of New Jersey and Tim Scott of South Carolina), one Asian American (Mazie Hirono of Hawaii), and two Hispanic Americans (Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.)

Her conclusion: “Black Senate Lives Matter.”

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